Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Other than announce the privatization of 14 000 state houses with zero criticism from anyone, the manufactured crises at the Hobbit killed off any discussion whatsoever of the 22 000 workers rights protesters who took to the streets in protest at John Key’s 90 day right to sack law that was extended by crazy right wing oompa loompa Rodney Hide against the advice of National’s own Minister of Labour, Kate ‘no one in the boys club listens to me anyway’ Wilkenson.

The largest Union rights march since the early 1990’s was strangled away from any real discourse in the media by the sudden eruption of Peter ‘Mt Doom’ Jackson and his manufactured crises with the fanged Actor’s Unions.

The 90 day right to sack shuts down any mobility within the work force, if you have mortgages to pay and children to feed, you aren’t going to in a 6.7% Unemployment environment risk on going financial obligations with a new job you could be fired from without reason in the first 3 months. That’s why 22 000 NZers protested, but the debate that National is not doing anything other more than punish beneficiaries and give the wealthy larger tax cuts whilst providing no jobs whatsoever got eclipsed by Warner Brothers manufactured crises, and all of a sudden Actor’s Unions became, to paraphrase Peter Jackson, “the most evil force on the face of the planet, and they must be chased from this dimension and any property once owned by an Actors Unions member be ploughed with salt”.

I believe that was one of the more calmer quotes from Peter Jackson, I hope he gets a nomination this year for best supporting actor in a commercial negotiating tactic.

I just hope as the cherry on the top of this shitcake , that the National Party spin machine hold their ‘look at how easy it was to manipulate the national debate’ celebration drinks at the Matterhorn. Just for the irony.

5 Comments:

I love it how there was "22000" at the CTU march, but Helen kelly refused to acknowledge that there was over a 1000 people marching agaisnt her.She loves the numbers game. After all thats all a Union organiser does right?? Make up crowd estimates?

helen kelly and robyn malcolm are as popular as a pedophile on a playground. The anti union sentiment throughout the country is huge because of their gaffe. Jackpot for " Mr smile and wave" aye bomber

Warners f**ked NZ over, not Actors Equity. Lets be straight. It was Warners that villified AE in their divide and conquer strategy that means they don't have to provide proper terms and conditions for actors and get to have some more piece of the pie when John Key hurries to suck cock this week. AE did NOT make a gaffe. What they should have done is played hard ball and called Warners bluff...you wanna overseas? go. And then make sure every SAG and union in the world would have no actor sign if they did. Two can play that game Mr Warner.

Anonymous needs to stay that way given the stupidity of the post!Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.AE did not have the intellect or the business experience to take on Warners so off course they got hammered and deservedly so.If the movie is shot elswhere there is no way that it will be boycotted.I will happily bet that Anonymous is a wealth consumer not a wealth creator.

There is very likely to be a negative reaction for a time to unions, and a hardening of anti-union sentiment from National's base. But not everybody cares about Hobbits, PJ, and the movie3 industry. The issues that are creating an increased need for workers to be interested in unions hasnt changed. The tax swindle hasn't changed. If the CTU manages to get their side of the story across - and this will be difficult, witness Holmes, The Hearald, Hotten et al - then its pretty clear that the CTU is a victim of a clever pincer movment here. The emails, unpubliched but confirmed by several media sources, back Helly Kelly up. To my mind, she comes out of all this with credit. The left need to be very clever, however, to get back into the game.I think Trotter has it completely correct. We are now seeing the right turning all its guns onto the left, as it starts fighting to it's last to preserve the discredited and failed polices of the last 25-30 yrs.

"What they should have done is played hard ball and called Warners bluff...you wanna overseas? go. And then make sure every SAG and union in the world would have no actor sign if they did."

Yes right. With most countries in Europe and the US itself in recession they would have welcomed AE to rid NZ of jobs and would have eagerly provided 'scab' labour. The Hobbit will be filmed either way and bottom line they will be a queue of actors with or without union membership waiting to come on board.

If demonstrating to NZers the stupidity of unions comes at the cost of the Hobbit so National can win in 2011 then its a cost worth paying. Its not often then your enemy succeeds at crushing themselves.